Russian officials hope to attract 50,000 people to attend every competition session at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Championships, which will take place in Moscow on Aug. 10–18.

International Association
of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Vice President Sergey Bubka believes that
Yelena Isinbayeva has what it takes to challenge American pole-vaulter Jennifer
Suhr for gold at the IAAF World Championships in Moscow. Russia’s athletics
representatives and officials are making it their priority to fill seats for
the event.

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Ticket sales
started on March 1 for the International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) World Championships, which will take place in Moscow on Aug. 10–18.

Vice
president of the IAAF, Sergey Bubka, paid a visit to the Russian capital to
support the event. On March 6, the renowned sportsman addressed journalists,
together with the All-Russia Athletics Federation general secretary, Mikhail
Butov, and the Moscow Directorate for Sports and Spectator Events director,
Alexander Polinsky.

“The World
Championships are a major event that will draw together participants from over
200 countries,” Bubka said. “Top international sport stars will compete here in
Moscow. Everyone is excited to see how the likes of Usain Bolt, David Rudisha
and Allyson Felix will perform. And let’s not forget Team Russia, which has
been performing incredibly as of late. I think it’s going to be an entertaining
and most interesting World Championships.”

“It’s very
important for the stands to be full,” said the IAAF vice president. “We hope it
will be the case. The success of the World Championships depends on how many
seats we fill. Some six billion are going to be watching on TV.”

There are still
around 400,000 tickets on sale, available for purchase online and at the
Luzhniki Stadium ticket offices. According to Mikhail Butov, sales are going
very well.

“We expect 50,000 people to attend every competition session.
Overall, there will be 13 sessions over the course of nine days,” Butov said.
“We will do our best to fill all the stadium seats. This is our key priority.”

Alexander Polinsky
noted that the ticket prices would be very affordable.

“The cheapest tickets
will cost 100 rubles,” he revealed. The most expensive package will set
spectators back 35,000 rubles ($1,136); it includes an all-inclusive pass for
the entire nine days of the competitions.

The European
Athletics Indoors Championships came to a close on March 3. The Russian team
topped the medal table, winning 14 medals in all — including four gold, seven
silver and three bronze.

“It was one of the most important stages in our
preparations for the World Championships,” Butov said. “There was a lot of
nail-biting going on. At times, we had to fight for justice; some decisions
made by the judges were quite controversial.”

During the U.S.
indoor championships, Jennifer Suhr beat Yelena Isinbayeva’s pole-vault record
with a jump of 5.02 meters (16.4 feet).

“Given Suhr’s
impressive shape, does Isinbayeva have any chances of winning the gold at the
World Championships?” a Gazeta.ru journalist asked Bubka, who set 35 world pole
vaulting records himself during his career.

“I think Yelena
poses a serious challenge for Suhr,” Bubka said in response. “She has a great
deal of potential. And we all know that it is competition that motivates
athletes and drives them to perform at their very best. I also think the home
crowd should help Yelena do well and end her career on a high note. I wish her
the very best of luck.”